Reviews with content warning for Rape - Hera

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Hera by Jennifer Saint

16 reviews

cathy_alice's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bryonyindecisivereader's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“She’s certain that nothing will happen. That she can relinquish her weary fidelity and the world will still have its goddess of wives, carved in wood and stone and ivory, set down in scrawled ink, trapped in song and verse forever.”

Pushed to the wayside, Hera is most famous for being forgotten by Zeus. We know her story less than we know how she doesn’t fit into Zeus’. Like many others, I’m guilty of only knowing her as an angry wife (who can blame her). I loved discovering her story through Jennifer Saint’s writing.

I really liked how, unlike other Greek myth retellings, this didn’t focus on one key myth. We got a whole overview of the Greek God pantheon, from them overthrowing the Titans to falling out of worship in more modern days. I found it really interesting when the myths that usually get whole stories on their own were just mentioned in a paragraph or so, and I thought it was a really effective way of showing the different impact these events had on humans versus gods.

This book gave the opportunity to not only see the whole pantheon, with Gods, mortals and quests, but we also saw monsters. I didn’t know that Hera fit into their story before this, so I loved learning about that.

Jennifer Saint’s writing style is beautiful, lyrical and easy to understand. It can’t be easy to fit hundreds of godly years into a 400 page book, but Saint still manages to accessibly do so here.

Although I don’t think this book tried to excuse all the things Hera did to punish Zeus’ infidelity, it gives us the chance to understand her actions more. A lot of her anger stems from when Zeus tricked her, raped her, then promised her the world – but didn’t actually give her the latter. It’s easy to understand her frustration too as she watches Cronos’ other children get given the skies and the sea and the underworld, and Zeus’ illegitimate children also get given realms, when she has to beg for anything.

TLDR – Zeus is a dick and deserves everything coming to him (it’s just a shame Hera punishes him by punishing the people around him)

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lalapope's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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audreytrml's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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withlivjones's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is Jennifer Saint’s best book yet. The scope of the book is insanely huge, spanning from the Titanomachy and foundation of Olympus, through the age of heroes and the Trojan War, all the way to the Classical Greek period and beyond - it essentially covers all of Greek mythology from the perspective of Hera, which is a massive achievement.

And Hera is a fantastic protagonist - her anger and bitterness is clear throughout the whole story, and she’s a flawed and morally grey character whose actions are fully explored but never fully excused. She also has a convincing character arc over the course of the book. Many of the other gods were also explored in a lot of depth - my personal favourites were Hestia and Hephaestus.

This book also has an in-depth exploration of the relationship between gods and mortals, and the nature of ancient religion as a whole, which I thought was really interesting and insightful - I love when retellings get all meta and start discussing why we keep telling these stories over and over in the first place.

I did have a couple of minor issues with the pacing, and I felt that a few of the myths were very quickly brushed over when they could have been explored in a little more depth, but for a story that covers so much content it’s inevitable that some parts will have less time dedicated to them. Overall, however, this was a fantastic retelling and potentially a new favourite of mine. I would definitely recommend, especially if you’re a fan of Circe by Madeline Miller, I think both books share quite similar vibes!

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natashaleighton_'s review

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another masterfully written, feminist retelling from Jennifer Saint that I felt beautifully captured the frustration, rage and emotional complexity of one of the most misunderstood Goddesses in Greek mythology.

Like Madeline Miller before her (with the incredible novel Circe), Saint gives a compelling voice to the famously maligned Hera (whose portrayal as the jealous wife of Zeus has been practically set in stone for centuries), laying bare every triumph and heartbreaking tribulation, that not only got under my skin but completely changed my perspective of her. Even in her most vengeful and petty moments I couldn’t really hate her.

I loved exploring such a poignantly vulnerable side to Hera that we don’t often get to see, and felt her story was an in depth and allegorical exploration into the patriarchal distribution of power and the slow simmering rage of women forced to watch their power (and bodily autonomy) diminish before their eyes.

Given the global targeting women’s bodily autonomy and rights, as well as the rise in misogyny and violence towards women— Hera’s experiences are the incredibly relevant.

And, alongside our supporting cast of (female) characters (both mortal and immortal) who’s backstories were just as impactful; we glimpse the most in-depth and humanised portrayal of the Gods that I’ve ever encountered. I was thoroughly engaged in their antics (and furious on behalf of Hera, the other Goddesses and all the women affected by the whims of the Gods.)

It’s painstakingly detailed and well researched without diverting too much from the original stories, which was surprisingly refreshing. And if you’re a stickler for accuracy in Greek myth retellings you should definitely consider checking this out.

I can’t really say anything else without spoiling the plot but overall, this was a powerfully poignant and feminist retelling that historical fiction lovers will want to add to their TBRs ASAP! Though I do recommend checking the TWs.

Also, a huge thank you to Headline/ Wildfire for the gorgeously shiny proof.

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coffee_on_the_pages's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Jennifer Saint is a fantastic writer of Greek mythology retellings and this does not disappoint. This book was like a Greek mythology overview starting with the fall of Cronos all the way through to the fall of the gods all from the POV of Hera, queen of the gods and wife of Zeus. Dipping in and out of so many myths from the really well known ones like Heracles, and Medusa, and into some of the lesser known ones the reader gets a bit of a Greek mythology 101. For me personally it helped me much better understand the chronological order of my favourite Greek myths.

Hera isn't exactly a likeable character, she is, what she always has been, vindictive, jealous, and petty but this book gives a better understanding of why she is this way and although I definitely did not agree with her actions I could at least emphasise with her. I did find it a little repetitive, Zeus does something bad, Hera lashes out at some poor victim of her husband.

While I enjoyed the story and the narrator her pronunciations of some names and places really took me out of the story at times and it took me a little minute to figure out who was who. I am not sure if she was perhaps pronouncing them the correct Greek way and my knowledge of the pronunciations is just wrong in which case I retract this statement.

Overall a really good retelling, it isn't my favourite by Jennifer Saint but it certainly wasn't a bad read and I would recommend to anyone who loves a good retelling.
Thank you Netgalley and Headline Audio for an arc copy of this audiobook.

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charlottereadshistory's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this raw retelling of Hera’s story. Queen of the gods, vengeful stepmother and spiteful wife - but also so much more. This is very much an ‘origin story’ as we learn more about Hera’s ‘childhood’ as much as any god has one, but also those defining moments in her life that seek to explain (rather than condone) her behaviour.

In Greek mythology Hera is often vilified due to her jealousy and vindictiveness towards Zeus’s mistresses/victims and their children, who bear the brunt of her anger rather than Zeus himself.

Hera’s tale seems to be a reaction to injustice after injustice piled upon her – as the daughter of Cronus and Zeus’s sister she is a hugely powerful goddess, but when the Olympian gods defeat the Titans and set up their home on Olympus, Zeus claims primacy and Hera is passed over when the other gods and goddesses are given their thrones and their realms of influence.

Note before we continue: This book and therefore the review contains trigger warnings of rape & sexism/misogyny.

On top of Hera’s ill treatment as a member of Olympus, Zeus forces Hera to become his wife and rapes her. Her inner pain at being betrayed and violated in this way is then compounded with the humiliation of being made goddess of marriage by Zeus whilst he constantly undermines her by forsaking his vows and creating a myriad of offspring (usually by force).

I thought this story was a thoughtful retelling of Hera’s life, as well as being a scathing look at the patriarchy and the different ways that anger and grief can show themselves. I must also mention the hot of side characters which could have gotten confusing, but Saint’s careful character and world building meant even myself as someone fairly new to Greek mythology was fine, and learnt so much context that will bring new insights to new stories I read in the future.

Thank you to Headline for gifting me an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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aerys_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

3.0

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brons_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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